Archive for November, 2009

Most know this, but just in case I better post it on the site. Back in August of this year, Jolyn started Physical Therapy Assistant school at Salt Lake Community College. She will graduate next year in December. Her schedule is packed. If she isn’t at school she is studying. On top of all of that she was elected as the President of their organization. Each starting Physical Therapy group forms their own organization, they pay national dues and continue being apart of the organization after graduation. Jolyn is president over her group until they graduate. The president has many responsibilities working with the students, faculty and others in the community.

She usually leaves around 7:00 to 7:30 am in the morning and comes home just in time for the kids to return from school. That leaves me to stay home and make sure the kids are off for school and then to get myself off to work. I can say that I have become pretty good at making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the kids. They don’t always like what is on the school menu. Actually most the items on the school menu are pretty disgusting. I think it is sad when home lunch can be better than school lunch.

One thing that I have not become good at and that is doing girls hair. Thank goodness our girls are old enough to do their own or there would be a pony tail shooting one way off the left and the other straight up on the right. I can do my boy’s hair. I ask him if he wants it to be a mohawk, spiky, or combed to the side. I am down for three styles.

It has been a long time since we have posted anything on our blog. You probably gave up on seeing an update for the two who view this site. =)

As a family we took one incredible trip to Nauvoo, Illinois. It was probably one of the best trips we have ever taken. We surprised the kids the morning of with a Nintendo DS and a bunch of games. This was one of the magic tricks to make a 43 hour drive bearable.

Us at the Rockies game

Our first stop was to Jolyn’s Uncle Bob and Aunt Marion’s house. We spent two great days with them. They took us to the Denver Museum and a Rocky’s Game. It was our first Major League Baseball game, and it was awesome. We also visited with Doug and Lisa and saw their awesome home movie theater. Lisa was claiming Doug was being too geeky, but I totally digged it. I guess that makes me geeky too by Lisa’s standards. =)

Kids at the Omaha Zoo

After spending time in Denver, we moved on to Omaha and visited my little sister Clyda. We met up with John and her at the Omaha Zoo, which is a really neat zoo. We then went and saw a pageant in Kainsville that both John and her were in a few years back. It was a real cute pageant about the pioneers coming to Winter Quarters and making a go of things after being expelled from Nauvoo.

John and Clyda took us to a restaurant called Ricks where we had dinner on the Missouri River. They had this huge public pedestrian bridge that they just finished recently. We crossed the Missouri River on foot and had the grand opportunity of standing in two places at once.

Being in two places at once

We spent some time at Winter Quarters and had a tour of the visitor center there and walked around on the temple grounds. It truly was a special place, and to stand where they stood at the grave sites was humbling.

We then drove on to Nauvoo. While crossing Iowa, I got pulled over by a highway patrol. He says he clocked us at 73 and then at 94 and then back at 73. He wanted to know if we had any electronic devices in the car. My kids at the time were chatting with each other on their Nintendo DS and apparently they affect police radar. He gave us a warning, but I think what saved me was we were obviously a Mormon family, with Utah license plates, going to Nauvoo and my wife was sitting in the front knitting. She was making a gift for John and Clyda and her Aunt and Uncle. The officer had no question that there was anything fishy about us.

Family in front of the Nauvoo Temple

I have to admit that Nauvoo was the best part of the trip. In the end, the kids kept saying they didn’t want to leave. They really have made some neat improvements there, and it is something else to actually see the temple where it once stood. We did all the activities, saw the pageant, saw some incredible art of Christ, was entertained by a show or two of culture river music and drank in the spirit of that place.

The kids really wanted to go into the temple, but obviously could not due to their ages. We made a commitment as a family that when Blake returned from his mission that we would return as a family and go through together. We were sad to leave, but eventually we did.

Us at Carthage Jail

We ended the Nauvoo experience by going to Carthage Jail and seeing where the prophet Joseph Smith was killed. Emily was so moved by the spirit that she was crying a few times. I couldn’t of been more pleased with the whole experience.

We went back to Omaha and spent another day with John and Clyda. Then we went back to Bob and Marian’s house for another stay. Then we went to Vernal for Jolyn’s high school reunion and then we reached home. In total it was 10 days of travel. I would do it again in a heart beat.

I took over 200 photos from the trip and made a video that is close to 20 minutes, so the few you see here do not do our trip justice, but at least you have a post on our blog for the first time in five months.